Apply

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aɪ

From Old French applier, (French appliquer), from Latin applicō ("join, fix, or attach to"); from ad + plicō ("fold, twist together"). See applicant, ply.

Full definition of apply

Verb

1. (transitive) To lay or place; to put or adjust (one thing to another);—with to; as, to apply the hand to the breast; to apply medicaments to a diseased part of the body.
• 1697, w, Translation of Virgil's Aeneid, He said, and to the sword his throat applied.
2. (transitive) To put to use; to use or employ for a particular purpose, or in a particular case; to appropriate; to devote; as, to apply money to the payment of a debt.
3. (transitive) To make use of, declare, or pronounce, as suitable, fitting, or relative; as, to apply the testimony to the case; to apply an epithet to a person.
• unknown date Milton,Yet God at last To Satan, first in sin, his doom applied.
4. (transitive) To fix closely; to engage and employ diligently, or with attention; to attach; to incline.
• 1611, , Proverbs 23:12,Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
5. (transitive) To betake; to address; to refer;—used reflexively.
• unknown date Johnson,I applied myself to him for help.
6. (intransitive) To submit oneself as a candidate (with the adposition "to" designating the recipient of the submission, and the adposition "for" designating the position).I recently applied to the tavern for a job as a bartender.Most of the colleges she applied to were ones she thought she had a good chance of getting into.Many of them don't know it, but almost a third of the inmates are eligible to apply for parole or work-release programs.
7. (intransitive) To pertain or be relevant to a specified individual or group.That rule only applies to foreigners.
8. (obsolete) To busy; to keep at work; to ply.
• Sir Philip SidneyShe was skillful in applying his humours.
9. (obsolete) To visit.
• ChapmanHis armour was so clear,
  And he applied each place so fast, that like a lightning thrown
  Out of the shield of Jupiter, in every eye he shone.

Related terms

• applier
• applicate
• application
• appliance
• applicant
• appliable
• applicable

Pronunciation

• IPA: /æplÌ©.iː/

apple + -y

Adjective

1. Alternative spelling of appley

Anagrams

• lappy